Written Answers Friday 4 January 2008

Scottish Executive

Culture

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional finance has been allocated to EventScotland in the budget to support its work in relation to the 2009 Year of Homecoming.

Jim Mather: In our spending plans for 2008-09 to 2010-11 we have set out plans to spend £3.2 million each year on major events and themed years. A large proportion of this funding in 2008-09 and 2009-10 will be allocated to Homecoming Scotland to cover the project’s costs, including support for events which will drive tourism growth and link to the themes of Homecoming Scotland. EventScotland aim to use that funding to attract further funding for Homecoming Scotland from a range of sources, including local authorities, private sector sponsors and European sources. In addition, VisitScotland will incorporate the Homecoming Scotland message in all of its marketing starting from early in 2008, and that in-kind marketing support over the two years will be worth a great deal.

Economy

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual GDP growth rate for Scotland has been in each year since 1970 and what information it has on the rates for (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) the United Kingdom over the same period.

John Swinney: Table 1 shows the annual GDP growth rates for Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole from 1970 onwards. No comparable figures exist for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

  Table 1: Gross Domestic Product at Constant Basic Prices for Scotland and the UK (1970-2006)

  

 
 GDP Growth Rate (%)


 Scotland
 UK


 1970
 1.8
 3.0


 1971
 1.1
 1.7


 1972
 3.6
 4.7


 1973
 7.1
 4.5


 1974
 0.0
 -0.4


 1975
 -1.5
 0.0


 1976
 1.8
 3.4


 1977
 1.7
 1.6


 1978
 2.4
 2.7


 1979
 1.0
 1.6


 1980
 -1.9
 -4.0


 1981
 -1.4
 1.1


 1982
 1.5
 2.0


 1983
 1.4
 4.3


 1984
 3.8
 1.5


 1985
 2.8
 3.8


 1986
 0.4
 4.7


 1987
 2.0
 4.5


 1988
 4.0
 4.3


 1989
 2.7
 1.2


 1990
 2.2
 -0.1


 1991
 0.1
 -0.3


 1992
 1.4
 1.0


 1993
 2.5
 3.0


 1994
 3.4
 4.5


 1995
 1.8
 1.6


 1996
 2.9
 3.0


 1997
 2.8
 3.4


 1998
 1.9
 3.4


 1999
 1.9
 3.5


 2000
 2.7
 3.2


 2001
 2.3
 1.6


 2002
 0.8
 2.2


 2003
 2.0
 3.6


 2004
 2.6
 2.6


 2005
 1.7
 1.9


 2006
 2.6
 3.1



  Source: Scottish Government; Office for National Statistics.

Ferry Services

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation took place with Caledonian MacBrayne prior to the awarding of the contract for building the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry for the route serving Islay.

Stewart Stevenson: The operator of the Islay service, CalMac Ferries Limited, were fully involved in all aspects of the tendering and contract award for the new ferry to serve this route. This included the development of the specification and design of the new vessel.

Ferry Services

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which company has obtained the contract for building the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry for the route serving Islay and where it will be built.: 

Stewart Stevenson: The contract to construct this vessel has been awarded by Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited to Gdansk Stocznia Remontowa SA and the vessel will be built in Gdansk, Poland.

Ferry Services

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which Scottish boat builders were considered when the contract for building the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry for the route serving Islay was awarded.: 

Stewart Stevenson: Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited are obliged to follow EU procurement guidelines in tendering the contract for new vessels. Ferguson Shipbuilders originally expressed an interest and were invited to tender. However, early in the tender period Ferguson Shipbuilders withdrew from the tender competition. Consequently no Scottish shipbuilders tendered for the contract.

Ferry Services

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it took to encourage Scottish shipbuilders to tender for the contract for building the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry for the route serving Islay.: 

Stewart Stevenson: Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited are responsible for procuring vessels for use on the Clyde and Hebrides routes. They are bound by EU procurement rules and consequently cannot be seen to encourage one bidder over another. The tendering process was advertised widely to ensure the maximum degree of interest. It was important that all bidders were treated equally during the tender process.

Ferry Services

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was of the tendering process for the contract for building the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry for the route serving Islay.: 

Stewart Stevenson: The estimated cost of the tendering process of the contract for the new Islay vessel is some £55,000. This figure incorporates the cost of the design work including preparation of documents, drawings and the tender specification. This figure excludes the staff costs of CalMac Ferries Ltd and Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd personnel who have been involved.

Forestry Commission

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate has been made of the contribution that the work of the Forestry Commission can make towards (a) reducing CO 2 in the atmosphere between 2007 and 2011 and (b) meeting the Executive’s target of an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.

Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Climate Change Programme sets a carbon contribution for the forestry sector of 0.6MtC savings annually by 2010, rising to around 1MtC per year by 2020. This equates to the annual removal of 2MtCo2 and 3.7MtCo2 respectively.

  We will be issuing a consultation shortly on the proposed Climate Change Bill which will include the target of reducing emissions by 80% by 2050.

  The main forestry activities that will contribute towards meeting these targets are increased levels of woodland creation, the continuing development of biomass as a renewable energy source, using wood as a substitute for energy intensive building materials, and reducing timber haulage miles.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, what distribution formulae will apply to each of the currently ring-fenced funds that are not currently distributed by formula to all local authorities.

John Swinney: In the interests of stability, as agreed with COSLA, the distribution of all local authority funding will be distributed by using the most appropriate indicator. Wherever appropriate, individual local authorities will receive similar shares of funding in the next three years as they are currently receiving. For relevant ring-fenced funding streams the distribution will be matched to existing on-going commitments.

Local Government Concordat

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, under the terms of its concordat with COSLA, what the 2007-08 value is of each component of the funds that will be rolled together into general capital grant for 2008-09 and beyond and to which there will be an increase of 13%.: 

John Swinney: The following table shows the 2007-08 value of each specific grant and the supported borrowing allocation that has been rolled into the General Capital Support. The 13 per cent figure refers to the total increase in support for capital which was £860.4 million in 2007-08 and that this figure includes continuing ring-fenced grants (£273.3 million) and general capital funding (£587.1 million). It will be for local authorities to determine how they spend their general allocation including the uplift in 2008-09 and beyond.

  

 Grants Rolled Up Into General Capital Grant
2007-08
(£ Million)


 Cities Growth Fund
 42.0 


 Efficiency Reform Fund
 4.2 


 Piers and Harbours Grant
 7.8 


 Public Transport Fund and Integrated Transport Fund
 15.4 


 Regional Transport Partnership Capital Grant
 21.3 


 Schools Fund
 86.1


 Police Capital Grant
 31.4 


 Air Quality Monitoring
 0.3 


 Flood Prevention and Coast Protection Grant
 42.0 


 Contaminated Land Grant
 18.2 


 Strategic Waste Fund
 13.2


 Total Grants rolled up in 2008-09
 281.9


 Supported Borrowing
 305.2

Local Government Concordat

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether consideration will be given to retaining ring fencing of all funding streams identified within the strategic spending review until strategic outcome agreements are finalised.

John Swinney: Our historic concordat with local government means that central and local government have, for the first time, a shared set of national outcomes and indicators. Each council will develop a Single Outcome Agreement with the Scottish Government, and we are working to have these in place by April 2008. Local and central government will work in partnership to deliver these shared outcomes.

  The concordat details those grants which will no longer be ring-fenced. The removal of bureaucracy and regulation around these will allow local authorities to operate more efficiently and with greater flexibility and freedom than ever before. Reinstating the ring fencing would be a very last resort only if the partnership was failing to deliver. I have no reason to anticipate that will happen.

Ministerial Meetings

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change will meet myself and the Maybole Bypass Committee, as he agreed to do on 8 August 2007, to discuss the recent report on the bypass published by Transport Scotland.

Stewart Stevenson: A meeting has been arranged for 30 January 2008.

Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps VisitScotland and Scottish Enterprise Grampian took to comply with sections 1 and 12 of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 before publicly supporting a development proposal that would adversely affect a site of special scientific interest.

Jim Mather: This is an operational matter for VisitScotland and Scottish Enterprise and I have asked their chief executives to respond to you directly.

Pensions

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-7005 by John Swinney on 6 December 2007, when the Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) dispatched the data to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde; when civil servants were advised that there was a potential problem, and when ministers were similarly advised.

John Swinney: The data were despatched on 26 October 2007. Civil servants were advised of a potential problem on 23 November. Ministers were informed on 23 November.

Scottish Water

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation took place with business water users before the establishment of Scottish Water Business Stream.

Stewart Stevenson: The planned creation by Scottish Water of a separate retail subsidiary, as part of the preparation for the introduction of retail competition in the non-household water sector, was included in the consultation on the draft Water Services etc. (Scotland) Bill in October 2003.

Scottish Water

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which department is responsible for monitoring and evaluating the work of Scottish Water Business Stream.: 

Stewart Stevenson: The Water Industry and Climate Change Directorate of the Scottish Government is responsible for monitoring Scottish Water’s delivery of ministers’ objectives for the water industry. This includes in relation to its retail subsidiary.

Scottish Water

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what ministerial or parliamentary approval was given prior to the establishment of Scottish Water Business Stream.

Stewart Stevenson: Parliament approved the principle of establishment by Scottish Water of a retail undertaking in the Water Services etc. (Scotland) Act 2005. In accordance with that act, ministers approved the establishment of Scottish Water Business Stream as a retail subsidiary of Scottish Water in October 2006.

Scottish Water

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what costs were involved in the establishment and launch of Scottish Water Business Stream.: 

Stewart Stevenson: This is an operational matter for Scottish Water and its retail subsidiary, Business Stream.

  Costs associated with retail licensing were accounted for by the Water Industry Commission as part of its determination of water charges for 2006-10.

Scottish Water

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the projected running costs are for Scottish Water Business Stream in each financial year to 2010-11.: 

Stewart Stevenson: This is a matter for Scottish Water and its retail subsidiary, Business Stream.

Scottish Water

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much financial profit Scottish Water Business Stream is projected to make in each financial year to 2010-11.: 

Stewart Stevenson: This is an operational matter for Scottish Water and its retail subsidiary, Business Stream. It will however be subject to the development of retail competition when the market generally opens on 1 April 2008.

Shipbuilding

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what role Scottish Enterprise played in encouraging Scottish shipbuilders to tender for the contract for building the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry for the route serving Islay.

Stewart Stevenson: Scottish Enterprise has been working closely with, and has provided a range of support and advice to, Ferguson Shipbuilders in Port Glasgow. Ferguson Shipbuilders is probably the only Scottish civil shipyard currently with the capability to undertake the recent contract for the construction of a vessel for the Islay service. Scottish Enterprise’s work has been undertaken with a view to ensuring the company maximises its opportunity to bid for any appropriate work, aimed at helping to retain and to create Scottish jobs. However, while Scottish Enterprise can bring appropriate invitations to tender of which it is aware to the attention of private companies, it is not able to influence what are private company decisions on whether to bid. Any decision on whether or not to tender is a matter for the company’s own commercial judgment.

Shipbuilding

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to support Scottish shipbuilders.

Stewart Stevenson: Scottish ministers will continue to provide support to encourage the growth of the shipbuilding industry in Scotland. The Scottish Government is in regular contact with UK counterparts to ensure Scotland’s position is fully represented and to support and encourage the growth of the sector in Scotland. In addition, Scottish Enterprise will continue to encourage industry growth through the Scottish Marine Technologies Training Project - a comprehensive plan designed to ensure the development of the skilled workforce that is essential to the future success of the industry.

Transport

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings have been held with the Community Transport Association regarding the decision to remove ring-fenced funding from community transport.

Stewart Stevenson: No meetings have been held with the Community Transport Association (CTA) regarding the decision to remove ring-fenced funding from community transport. Officials wrote to stakeholders, including the CTA, on 27 November 2007 to explain the effects of the Strategic Spending Review 2007 announcement on the funding of community transport. Officials have since then discussed this matter further by telephone with the CTA’s Director for Scotland. He did not however request a meeting with officials.

  Further information on the outcomes from the Scottish Budget: Spending Review 2007 Report is available at www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/11/13092240.

Transport

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings are planned with the Community Transport Association regarding the decision to remove ring-fenced funding from community transport.: 

Stewart Stevenson: No meetings are planned with the Community Transport Association (CTA) regarding the decision to remove ring-fenced funding from community transport. Officials wrote to stakeholders, including the CTA, on 27 November 2007 to explain the effects of the Strategic Spending Review 2007 announcement on the funding of community transport. Officials have since then discussed this matter further by telephone with the CTA’s Director for Scotland. The CTA’s Director for Scotland did not however request a meeting with officials.

  Further information on the outcomes from the Scottish Budget: Spending Review 2007 Report is available at www.scotland.gov.uk.Publications/2007/11/13092240.

Transport

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings have been held with the Community Transport Association regarding the formulation and implementation of single outcome agreements.

Stewart Stevenson: No meetings have been held with the Community Transport Association (CTA) regarding the formulation and implementation of single outcome agreements. Officials have recently discussed the effects of the Strategic Spending Review 2007 on the funding of community transport by telephone with the CTA’s Director for Scotland. However, he neither raised the issue of single outcome agreements nor requested a meeting with officials.

  Further information on single outcome agreements can be found at: www.scotland.gov.uk/Publication/2007/11/13092240.

Transport

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings are planned with the Community Transport Association regarding the formulation and implementation of single outcome agreements.: 

Stewart Stevenson: No meetings are planned with the Community Transport Association regarding the formulation and implementation of single outcome agreements (SOAs). Officials have recently discussed the effects of the Strategic Spending Review 2007 on the funding of community transport by telephone with the CTA’s Director for Scotland. However, he did not request a meeting with officials to discuss SOAs.

  Further information on single outcome agreements can be found at: www.scotland.gov.uk/Publication/2007/11/13092240.

Transport

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings have been held with the Community Transport Association regarding the formulation and implementation of national indicators and targets.

Stewart Stevenson: No meetings have been held with the Community Transport Association (CTA) regarding the formulation and implementation of the national indicators and targets. Officials have recently discussed the effects of the Strategic Spending Review 2007 on the funding of community transport by telephone with the CTA’s Director for Scotland. However, he did not request a meeting with officials to discuss national indicators and targets.

  Further information on national indicators and targets can be found at: www.scotland.gov.uk/Publication/2007/11/13092240.

Transport

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings are planned with the Community Transport Association regarding the formulation and implementation of national indicators and targets.: 

Stewart Stevenson: No meetings are planned with the Community Transport Association (CTA) regarding the formulation and implementation of national indicators and targets. Officials have recently discussed the effects of the Strategic Spending Review 2007 on the funding of community transport by telephone with the CTA’s Director for Scotland. However, he neither raised the issue of national indicators and targets nor requested a meeting with officials.

  Further information on national indicators and targets can be found at: www.scotland.gov.uk/Publication/2007/11/13092240.